Kayli's Penguins

Kayli & her picture in the art show in downtown Howell.

I'm not tired...

Since we finally gave up on Zoe napping, she now randomly falls asleep. Here she is asleep on our way home from having lunch with daddy...

You know you are pregnant when...

...at 9:45pm on a Tuesday night, you decide that you have to have an Asian salad from McDonalds (with balsamic vinaigrette not the sesame ginger dressing), so you head out into a blizzard even though your husband said he would get it for you in half an hour (you need it now). It takes you 20 minutes for a trip that usually takes 10 at the most. You finally arrive, order your salad and they don't have any!! You order a bacon ranch & once you have it with the stupid balsamic vinaigrette, not the ranch dressing, tears come to your eyes. You decide that you do really need the Asian salad & head to another McDonalds. After another 15 minutes of driving in really bad weather, you arrive & order 2 salads (I mean, we are in the middle of a blizzard). Success!! They have it & even get the dressings right. So, you head home with 3 salads, thinking it is possible you might actually eat them all tonight. Then, after arriving home, you sit down to eat and wish you had ordered an Orange drink from McDonalds (think very briefly of going to get one, then remember last trip & settle for milk). It was yummy & I only ate one salad.

Shopping...

Zoe has a little bit of a cold, so we decided to keep her home from school this morning. When I told her she was too sick to go to school, she replied, "But, I can still go to stores." Apparently, she may be sick, but she can still shop!

Happy Birthday Emma!

This evening we met the Saunders at CiCi's to celebrate Emma's 5th birthday!

Zoe's Reward Chart

Our latest parenting efforts include a reward chart for Zoe. She gets a star for doing one of the items on the list, but loses two stars if she breaks a rule. When she gets five stars in a row, she earns a smiley face tha that she can put anywhere on the reward chart. She has done pretty well so far (only losing a few stars) & within a week earned all the rewards. She is now well on her to filling up another reward chart.

Poppa & Grandma Visit

Lunch at Ruby Tuesday's

Zoe Quote of the Day

"Mommy, I have a great name for the baby. Banana!"

Sledding

Daddy came home a little early from work today and we went sledding. Zoe had a great time. The video shows Zoe going down the hill all by herself. You will see Daddy panicking at the last minute and holding onto the back of the sled. Quite funny!!

Zoe's Quote of the Day

"I want to wear my ear mouse today."

ear mouse = ear muffs

Amanda's Bridal Shower

This weekend, Zoe & I travelled to Stevensville to attend Amanda's Bridal Shower. There was lots of yummy food (Zoe really enjoyed the chocolate covered strawberries) & lots of presents for Aunt Amanda to open. Zoe had fun "helping" her until the ice cream cake was served.

Basement Work

While Zoe & I went to the bridal shower, Tony stayed home to work on the basement. Saturday, Andy & the girls came over to assist.

Zoe Quote of the Day

Daddy: "Zoe, how does my haircut look?"

Zoe:"Ridiculous!"

Roses...

finally...after 10 years...Tony got me roses for the first time ever for Valentine's Day this year!!

Roller Skating with "Dora & Deigo"

This morning, we went roller skating with a couple who claimed to be Dora & Deigo. They were the worst costumes ever... Tony referred to them as Zombie Dora/Deigo and he might have been right. Zoe wouldn't get near them (& really who could blame her), but had a fun time nonetheless.

Zombies?!?

This is not a bad photo...if anything they look a little better than they did in person!!

The chicken dance?!?

15 weeks...

Happy 2nd Birthday Ava!!

Today, we helped Ava celebrate her 2nd birthday. Zoe had fun playing with Poppa and Carson. I enjoyed the two delicious pieces of cake I had (I mean, I am eating for two, right?).

Too cute...

Zoe in curlers...

Free Cat to a Good Home!!

(Well, okay it doesn't have to be that great of home.) He has a great heart (okay, not really, he actually has hypertrophic cardiomyopathy which will kill him someday, but, we already spent the thousands of dollars required to take him to specialists to discover this. Don't worry he only needs heart medicine - in pill form- twice a day - which he refuses to take). Otherwise, he is a perfectly loving cat (well, there is that time he attacked me on the stairs & I ending up breaking my toe, but that was a long time ago & I am sure somehow my fault.) He is litter-box trained (but he won't use it - I just cleaned up the stinkiest pooh ever - I mean, it actually woke me up at 4:30am - I am sure that there is something wrong with the two litter boxes we now have - we put an extra litter box in my bathroom - which I had to abandon because the smell bothers me now so much that now I share Zoe's bathroom.) He is very pretty with long orange/white hair (which isn't quite so pretty after it's been coughed up in a hairball that I stepped in in the kitchen on my way to get the floor cleaner for the pooh in the dining room - also at 4:30 in the morning - also very stinky!!) Anyway, like I said, free cat to ANY home!!

A "Great" Time

This evening, Zoe came in from swimming class and I asked her if she had fun. She said she had a great time. She let go of her bar-bell & the lifeguard had to jump in.

Hmmm...A great time when she had to be rescued by the lifeguard. This apparently also involved filling out some paperwork on Tony's part, as anytime a lifeguard gets wet they have to file an incident report. Apparently, I missed an exciting swim class...

Shannon & Emily Come & Visit

Shannon & Emily stayed with us Saturday - Tuesday. The girls had a great time playing together & we even went and saw the Veggie Tales movie: Pirates who don't do anything.

They are seen here wearing their new matching PJ's, enjoying some candy hearts that Kathy sent for them & getting ready to watch the mermaid Barbie movie.

Splash Universe

To "celebrate" MLK Jr. Day, we went to Splash Universe. Zoe had a great time!!

Salon Mère

This evening Zoe went to the exclusive Salon Mère to have her hair cut...

Not too bad for my 1st hair cut - plus the price was right...

Bluffton Christmas Parade

Waiting for the parade to start...brrrr!!

No parade is complete without a Buckeye "float" with an inflatable Brutus.

Santa & Mrs. Claus on the fire truck.

Cookie Day

Over 100 dozen cookies...

Go Bucks!!

Today, Ohio State defeated Michigan & Zoe apparently picked up a few things from the cheerleaders...

Tea Anyone...

Zoe decided to host a tea party today using her princess dixie cups. She is expecting 24 very skinny people (& yes, each cup has "tea" in it).

OSU-Illinois

Tony & I went to the disappointing Ohio State & Illinois football game today. It was cold & sad...darn that Juice Williams...

Zoe's New Dress

My mom made this cute dress for Zoe...

A little bit of drama...

This evening Tony & Zoe had a disagreement over a sweater.

At dinner, the conversation went like this:

Zoe: "Daddy hurt my feelings."

Me: "What did he do to hurt your feelings?"

Zoe: "He broke my heart."

Her 1st broken heart -- at only 3 1/2 -- over a sweater

Trick-or-Treat

Sleeping Beauty (with a Cinderella necklace & Tinkerbell wand)

Trick-or-Treating with 2 cool cats (Emma & Mary)

Zoe's & Her Loot
(you tend to get lots of candy when you just keep taking pieces when someone offers you the bowl - Zoe would take about four pieces instead of just one)

OSU-Penn St Game

Tony & Lew travelled to Penn St this weekend for the football game. Go Bucks!!

Halloween Ballet

At ballet this week, the girls dressed up in their Halloween costumes. (Apparently, Zoe's tights were a little small) Sorry for the bad camera work - I was laughing...

Halloween Tap

Carving Pumpkins

This evening while Uncle Ben was staying with us for a night, we picked pumpkins, carved & lit them.

Happy Birthday Emily!!

Uncle Tony also helped celebrate Emily's birthday this weekend.

Check out the cool mermaid cake...

OSU - MSU game

While in Columbus for recruiting, Tony just happened to attend the Ohio State - Michigan State game. Through a friend of Jason's, he was able to get a great seat...Go Bucks!!

Ford Recruiting

While recruiting for Ford at Ohio State, Tony & his group met, OSU president Gordon Gee.

"These are my new sisters!" (Zoe)

This morning, we went to Jungle Java so the girls could run around and have some fun. While I was signing in, Zoe told the person at the counter, "These are my new sisters." I just had to laugh. Zoe is having a great time with 2 little people to play with all of the time.

"These are very tasty!" (Shannon)

Sunday night, we made cupcakes to celebrate Shannon & Emily's visit. The girls each got to decorate 4 cupcakes (1 for each day they were here).

Happy Birthday Sarah & Emily!!

We celebrated Sarah & Emily's 5th birthdays this afternoon with lunch at Red Robin.

Poker Tournament

Congrats to Jason, who once again came in 2nd at the semi-annual poker tourney.

Senior Soccer Day

Saturday afternoon, we watched Matt's final home soccer game - also Senior Day (in a blistering 90 degree heat at noon - it was hot!!). Matt didn't see much action & since he's the goalkeeper, this is a good thing. They won 2-0 and we were all happy to return home to the air conditioning...

Happy 21st Amanda!!

Friday, we travelled to Stevensville, MI to help Amanda celebrate her 21st birthday. First stop was the Sandbar where Amanda had her 1st drink at midnight (bar time, of course). Then, we went down to a new casino in New Buffalo. Needless to say, we didn't home until almost 4am. Us old folks were pretty tired the next day...

Saturday evening, we went to Applebee's for dinner & then had cake during halftime of the Ohio State game...

Mission Accomplished

We are having a great time at Disney World (we have internet access for the next 23 hours...).

Sunday, Zoe met Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella & Belle in fell swoop. She gave them all hugs & showed them their picture on her shirt.

Zoe's 1st Roller Coaster

Today, Zoe rode Goofy's Barnstormer. She was so excited to ride a roller coaster. Daddy had rode one the day before and she REALLY wanted to ride. Luckily this on was just her size....

As you can see, she was all smiles going up the first hill, not so much the rest of the ride. What I failed to capture, was the hysterical crying that occurred once the ride had stopped. However, the next day, she said she wanted to ride again, so we did. And, it again ended with her crying...go figure.